I have had a large refund from Swisscom because they changed their tarif for roaming, it cost me more money than it should have done.

It depends. Typically they'll send out their updated AGB (terms and conditions) and give you thirty days to contest the change, and again typically, this is the agreed-upon process in your contract for changes. As most people just throw those in the trash without reading them... well, they may be in the clear.

The more I think about this, the stranger it sounds. Why would Sunrise quietly alter their AGB's to ban VOIP and tethering (no press release/announcement) and then not enforce it? (at least I am still Skyping and tethering, and haven't heard of anyone actually being blocked). Actually, nobody seemed to notice/care until this blogger picked up on it nearly a year later (!!)

Technically speaking, from the network side, if you want to detect and block mifi and VOIP, it's too complicated or maybe even impossible (especially since business users are allowed VOIP/tethering, but private customers not) . The US cellular operators manage to do this because they sell only "branded" handsets pre-loaded with their own software that can block/detect VOIP and tethering. But here in Europe unbranded handsets are easy to come by, so I don't see how Sunrise could enforce this.

Altho, if you switch your SIM from a phone to a data-stick, then that can easily be detected, as the network will see the new IMEI and with a quick cross-reference can see what device it is (ie: phone or data-card)

I think it's one of two scnarios:

1- Cracking down on abuse. I hear alot of stories about places (eg. asylum centers) in CH where one guy buys a mifi-enabled phone and leaves it on 24/7 so everyone in the center can connect laptops/tablets/phones/etc. to it via wifi, so there is constantly many people downloading, VOIP-ing etc. and making a strain on the network in that area. Maybe Sunrise changed their AGB's to be able to crack down on that kind of abuse. But then they should really clarify it, so that "normal" users (like me, and most people) don't get afraid that they will lose the freedom to use their cellular connection as we always have.

2- Cash grab. Maybe Sunrise will follow suit like the US operators, and start selling their branded phones with software that disables all VOIP and tethering options, and then try to bill customers additionally for that. But that won't really work here, as I stated above, un-branded (and still subsidised) phones can be gotten from many 3rd party retailers (ie: digitec, MobileZone, etc.). So if this is their plan, it's a bad one. If Sunrise needs more cash, then just raise their rates a little. They are already dirt-cheap. Even if they raised it 5CHF/month, they'll still be the cheapest in town, and the public backlash would be less than if they try to turn themselves into a US-style operator by micro-managing their customers.

...either way, I think Sunrise really needs to give a public explanation for this change in AGB. It would be nice to see some media outlets contact the Sunrise PR department and have a more detailed explanation given (*ahem*, Geneva Lunch, are you listening? )

I guess they just want more revenue. If they ban skype then you have to make a normal phone call which is more revenue for them. Also everybody using more and more data in the network means more network infrastructure against the current network which can handle call volumes well enough already.

Technically it is not really possible to enforce this. The T&C will be updated and if they see that you are doing it they can cancel your contract. But they can not stop the traffic because the ports used are not exclusive to VOIP traffic. So you can continue to Skype etc.

How will they ban VPN? You can tunnel it on any port, even port 80 or 443, which is usually reserved for http/https traffic.

I don't think they can cause there are too many businesses that use it for employees to contact their mother ships.

At least I was under this impression from the way my wife's company does stuff.

Oh, and welcome to the way business is done in the States. I remember thinking, when I was living over here in the CH, that it was just a matter of time before the carriers started banning things because they couldn't increase their bottom lines or it competed with services that they themselves provided. Yippee...

So far I have still been able to use Skype on my private phone with Sunrise. The service can be quite bad but this is equally noticeable with web browsing, so I do not think that they are doing any kind of special throttling.

Tethering has never been a problem.

I have the far too expensive 120.- unlimited thing subscription, which I probably would not recommend. Back last year I had a cheaper subscription with the data packet and did not notice any difference in service.

This user would like to thank transeuropeancheese for this useful post:

My experience of using internet on my Sunrise mobile service is that yes, it really is that bad. There's never any warning about when it will work and when it won't, and I presume they will simply point to their "modernisation works" as the reason. They really seem to expect people to pay today for a service they fail to provide, in order that it might be better sometime in the future.

With Sunrise now offering unlimited data is it time to run everything through the mobile and quit the home phone/internet package?

Does anyone have input on their experience with this on Sunrise?

My data speeds do seem lower since this unlimited data introduction but I have not tested this.

Finally from a tech perspective, which should be faster, USB tethering or Mobile hotspot from the phone? Does it make much difference in speed which phone you use for mobile data ie Samsung S4 vs S5/6/7?